whale talker

I’m amazed at how quickly the weather has cooled and autumn has arrived. It all seems to have been triggered by Hurricane Jimena. About a week after it passed by (thankfully not too close) the temperature began to drop by 5 degree increments weekly. This past week our temperatures have been running in the mid to low 80’s and even dipped into the 70’s some nights. Just a month ago it was always in the mid to high 90’s or even the 100’s daily. Anyway it is very pleasant now and with a discernable wind shift to the north we are having less moisture in the air. It has been an interesting experience for me to see the changes in weather, vegetation and critters. I can’t recall ever paying quite so much attention to my surroundings. Come January I will have been here my first full year. It will be equally interesting to see how the next year compares in regard to the changes I have observed and noted.

Yesterday I failed to take my camera and I missed a really great shot, Blue Heron and all. By all I mean that as I was running on the beach (a new form of exercise for me) I saw a group of birds in front of me, one clearly a Blue Heron. As I got closer they all lifted off together and there was the Heron, a Whimbrel, 2 Yellow Footed Gulls and a Semi-palmated Plover. I could have gotten a shot of all of them in the air at once….would have been cool. Today I’m taking the camera.

Did my yearly inspection underneath the trailer this morning for any unwanted critters that might be nesting under there: Ants (not my red ants, their cool), Scorpions, Black Widows or…….? I did find an Ant hive that had to be destroyed but otherwise things looked good. I also did my yearly application of axle grease on all areas where any critter could access the inside of the trailer from underneath. It has been a very effective method because I can testify to the significant change in unwanted critters in the trailer over the years. That ought to tell one something when these “senseless” animals will not cross a strip of axle grease (a petroleum product) while we immerse ourselves in it; that is petroleum products of all kinds. Once I solve the Scorpion problem (I’m pretty sure they drop from the palapa roof on to the trailer and then inside) I’m good. You can have your roof sprayed and then the Scorpions are gone but you get a shower of fine particles of poison on everything for months afterwards. I think I’ll hang with the Scorpions! I think I am actually in as much control of the situation as I can be; after all, I am dealing with “Mother Nature” here.

I am going to go to the beach now and I WLL TAKE MY CAMERA!

Well, the tide was in so there was little territory for the birds to work for food. No shots there today. But as I walked along the beach I reflected on the statement I made in my last post as to the minerals in the sea. They too are a part of you and I and it is here at the edge of the Sea where they are turned from ancient rock to sand and then to tiny particles returning always to the Mother Sea. That thought inspired me to take these pictures, hope you enjoy them.